Houston News

Mistrial Declared in Veteran's Gun Trial

by KTRH's Nik Rajkovic

A Texas veteran will be retried next month in a gun-rights case which drew national attention thanks to an online video of the arrest. The judge declared a mistrial Friday after two days of deliberations.

Army Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham is accused of interference with the duties of a Temple police officer who tried to disarm him of his AR-15 while Grisham hiked with his son to earn a Boy Scout badge.

“He didn't do anything wrong, he shouldn't even accept an hour of community services,” says Victoria Montgomery of Open Carry Texas who believes the officer is to blame.

“To just approach someone in such an aggressive posture and try to remove their rifle from their chest, that's outrageous,” she tells KTRH News. “Of course he is going to react, then you put a gun to his head and of course he's going to argue.”

Montgomery was hoping the mistrial would be the end of it.

“Police aren't God, they're human beings just like us and they should be able to understand you can't just walk up to a person and try to remove a rifle from their strap,” she says.